§ 3635. Transportation. 1. a. Sufficient transportation facilities\n(including the operation and maintenance of motor vehicles) shall be\nprovided by the school district for all the children residing within the\nschool district to and from the school they legally attend, who are in\nneed of such transportation because of the remoteness of the school to\nthe child or for the promotion of the best interest of such children.\nSuch transportation shall be provided for all children attending grades\nkindergarten through eight who live more than two miles from the school\nwhich they legally attend and for all children attending grades nine\nthrough twelve who live more than three miles from the school which they\nlegally attend and shall be provided for each such child up to a\ndistance of fifteen miles, the distances in each case being measured by\nthe nearest available route from home to school. The cost of providing\nsuch transportation between two or three miles, as the case may be, and\nfifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to be\na charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the\ndistrict. Transportation for a lesser distance than two miles in the\ncase of children attending grades kindergarten through eight or three\nmiles in the case of children attending grades nine through twelve and\nfor a greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided by the\ndistrict with the approval of the qualified voters, and, if provided,\nshall be offered equally to all children in like circumstances residing\nin the district; provided, however, that this requirement shall not\napply to transportation offered pursuant to section thirty-six hundred\nthirty-five-b of this article.\n b. (i) School districts providing transportation to a nonpublic school\nfor pupils living within a specified distance from such school shall\ndesignate one or more public schools as centralized pick-up points and\nshall provide transportation between such points and such nonpublic\nschools for students residing in the district who live too far from such\nnonpublic schools to qualify for transportation between home and school.\nThe district shall not be responsible for the provision of\ntransportation for pupils between their home and such pick-up points.\nThe district may provide school bus transportation to a pupil if the\nresidence of the pupil is located on an established route for the\ntransportation of pupils to the centralized pick-up point provided such\ntransportation does not result in additional costs to the district. The\ncost of providing transportation between such pick-up points and such\nnonpublic schools shall be an ordinary contingent expense.\n (ii) A board of education may, at its discretion, provide\ntransportation for pupils residing within the district to a nonpublic\nschool located more than fifteen miles from the home of any such pupil\nprovided that such transportation has been provided to such nonpublic\nschool pursuant to this subdivision in at least one of the immediately\npreceding three school years and such transportation is provided from\none or more centralized pick-up points designated pursuant to this\nparagraph and that the distance from such pick-up points to the\nnonpublic school is not more than fifteen miles. The district shall not\nbe responsible for the provision of transportation for pupils between\npupils homes and such pick-up points. The cost of providing\ntransportation between such pick-up points and such nonpublic schools\nshall be an ordinary contingent expense.\n c. The foregoing provisions of this subdivision shall not require\ntransportation to be provided for children residing within a city school\ndistrict, but if provided by such district pursuant to other provisions\nof this chapter, such transportation shall be offered equally to all\nsuch children in like circumstances; provided further that in city\nschool districts in cities having a population of one hundred\ntwenty-five thousand inhabitants or less such transportation, if\nprovided, shall be subject to the mileage limitations prescribed in\nparagraph a of this subdivision or such greater or lesser limitations as\nare approved by the board of education prior to July first, nineteen\nhundred ninety-six or as otherwise authorized in subdivision twelve of\nsection twenty-five hundred three of this chapter. City school districts\nwith a population of more than two hundred twenty-five thousand and less\nthan three hundred thousand, according to the nineteen hundred eighty\nfederal census, which elect to provide transportation shall do so in\naccord with the grade and distance provisions of this subdivision\nincluding transportation outside the city limits.\n d. Nothing contained in this subdivision, however, shall be deemed to\nrequire a school district to furnish transportation to a child directly\nto or from his or her home.\n e. In lieu of the transportation provided pursuant to the foregoing\nprovisions of this subdivision, a board of education may, at its\ndiscretion, provide transportation to any child attending grades\nkindergarten through eight between the school such child legally attends\nand before-and/or-after-school child care locations. For the purposes of\nthis subdivision, a before-and/or-after-school child care location shall\nmean a place, other than the child's home, where care for less than\ntwenty-four hours a day is provided on a regular basis for a child who\nattends school within the school district, provided that such place is\nsituated within the school district. This definition includes, but is\nnot limited to, a variety of child care services such as day care\ncenters, family day care homes and in-home care by non-relatives. Such\ntransportation may be provided for children attending grades\nkindergarten through eight where the distance between the school they\nlegally attend and before-and/or-after-school child care locations is\nmore than two miles, and may be provided for up to a distance of fifteen\nmiles, the distance in each case being measured by the nearest available\nroute from before-and/or-after-school child care locations to the school\nthey legally attend, except that transportation for a lesser distance\nthan two miles or a greater distance than fifteen miles may be provided\nif transportation for such distances is provided to students between\nhome and school. Where a child receives transportation from a\nbefore-school child care location to the school he or she legally\nattends, such child shall be entitled to receive transportation from the\nschool he or she legally attends to his or her home or to an\nafter-school child care location in accordance with this subdivision.\nWhere a child receives transportation from the school he or she legally\nattends to an after-school child care location, such child shall be\nentitled to receive transportation from home to the school he or she\nlegally attends in accordance with this subdivision. Transportation may\nbe provided to any child attending grades kindergarten through eight\nbetween the school the child legally attends and\nbefore-and/or-after-school child care locations upon written request of\nthe parent or legal guardian submitted not later than the first day of\nApril preceding the next school year, provided, however, a parent or\nguardian of a child not residing in the district on such date shall\nsubmit a written request within thirty days after establishing residence\nin the district and provided further that in order to be considered\neligible for such transportation in the nineteen hundred\neighty-seven--eighty-eight school year, such request must be submitted\nby August first, nineteen hundred eighty-seven. The provision of\ntransportation to or from before-and/or-after-school child care\nlocations, if provided, shall be offered equally to all children in like\ncircumstances residing in the district, provided that a board of\neducation furnishing transportation pursuant to this paragraph may limit\nthe provision of such transportation to child care locations located\nwithin the attendance zone of the school the child attends, and to child\nday care centers and school age child care programs licensed or\nregistered pursuant to section three hundred ninety of the social\nservices law located anywhere within the school district. The cost of\nproviding such transportation between two or three miles, as the case\nmay be, and fifteen miles shall be considered for the purposes of this\nchapter to be a charge upon the district. Such substitute transportation\nexpense shall be eligible for state aid in accordance with clause one of\nparagraph b of subdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of\nthis chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impose a\nduty upon boards of education to provide transportation to or from\nbefore-and/or-after-school child care locations. Nothing in this\nsubdivision shall be construed to authorize boards of education to\nprovide to any child transportation between a before-and/or-after-school\nday care location and that child's home.\n f. A board of education may, in its discretion, provide transportation\npursuant to this subdivision to a child of less than school age residing\nwithin the school district to and from the school which his or her\nparent legally attends; provided that such child is accompanied by such\nparent, that such parent is under twenty-one years of age and has not\nreceived a high school diploma, and that such transportation is\nfurnished for the purpose of allowing the child to receive child care\nservices and/or attend a nursery school, pre-school, or parenting\nprogram. For all purposes under this chapter, a child receiving such\ntransportation shall be deemed a pupil legally attending the school\nwhich his or her parent legally attends. The cost of providing such\ntransportation shall be considered for the purposes of this chapter to\nbe a charge upon the district and an ordinary contingent expense of the\ndistrict. Such transportation expense shall be eligible for state aid in\naccordance with subparagraph (i) of paragraph b of subdivision seven of\nsection thirty-six hundred two of this article.\n g. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, the\ntrustees or board of education of any school district may, in its\ndiscretion, provide transportation for students attending a universal\npre-kindergarten program in addition to transportation funded by such\nprogram or transportation for students attending another district\nsponsored or district-run pre-kindergarten program, within mileage\nlimits established by the school district; if provided such\ntransportation shall be offered equally to all children in like\ncircumstances residing in the district. The cost of providing such\ntransportation shall be a charge upon the district and for purposes of\nsubdivision seven of section thirty-six hundred two of this chapter,\nsuch pupils shall be considered non allowable pupils and the costs of\ntheir transportation shall not be aidable.\n 2. A parent or guardian of a child residing in any school district, or\nany representative authorized by such parent or guardian, who desires\nfor a child during the next school year any transportation authorized or\ndirected by this chapter shall submit a written request therefor to the\nschool trustees or board of education of such district not later than\nthe first day of April preceding the next school year, provided,\nhowever, that a parent or guardian of a child not residing in the\ndistrict on such date shall submit a written request within thirty days\nafter establishing residence in the district. No late request of a\nparent or guardian for transportation shall be denied where a reasonable\nexplanation is provided for the delay. If the voters, school trustees,\nor board of education fail to provide the transportation authorized or\ndirected by this chapter after receiving such a request, such parent,\nguardian or representative, or any taxpayer residing in the district,\nmay appeal to the commissioner of education, as provided in section\nthree hundred ten of this chapter. Except as hereinbefore provided, the\ncommissioner of education shall not require that such parent, guardian\nor representative present a request for such transportation to any\nmeeting of the voters, school trustees or board of education in order to\nappeal. Upon such appeal, the commissioner of education shall make such\norder as is required to effect compliance with the provisions of this\nchapter and this section.\n 2-a. The superintendent of each city school district, in a city having\na population in excess of one million, shall prepare a public school\ncalendar and shall notify officials of nonpublic schools to which\ntransportation has been requested not later than the first day of June\nin each year, of the days on which the public schools will be in session\nin the following school year. Such school district which provides\ntransportation to nonpublic schools shall provide such transportation\nfor the same number of days as the public schools are open but shall not\nprovide transportation services for more than one hundred eighty days.\nOfficials of each nonpublic school to which transportation is provided\nby a city school district of a city having a population in excess of one\nmillion may notify such district, not later than the first day of July\nof each school year, of a maximum of five days, exclusive of Saturdays,\nSundays or legal holidays upon which public schools are required to be\nclosed, on which the public schools are scheduled to be closed, except\nthat in any year in which the first or last day of Passover and Easter\nSunday are separated by more than seven days, such officials may notify\nthe district of a maximum of ten days, but such school district will be\nrequired to provide for transportation to such nonpublic school provided\nthat such five or ten additional days, whichever is applicable, are\nlimited to the following: the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday\nafter Labor Day, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, the week in which public\nschools are closed for spring recess, December twenty-fourth and the\nweek between Christmas day and New Year's day, the Tuesday, Wednesday,\nThursday and Friday after the observance of Washington's birthday, the\nfirst day of the second lunar month after the winter solstice in the\npreceding calendar year, known as Asian Lunar New Year, the fifteenth\nday of the eighth month of the Indian calendar in each year, known as\nDiwali, and, in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens only, Anniversary\nDay as designated in section twenty-five hundred eighty-six of this\nchapter.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation to\nthe contrary, in cities with a population of one million or more, the\nrequirement of paragraph c of subdivision one of this section, requiring\nthat a city school district providing transportation for children\nresiding within such district offer such transportation equally to all\nsuch children in like circumstances, shall not apply to the use of\nexisting contract bus service provided for children in elementary grades\nby pupils in grades seven and eight, but only where such use is a\nreinstatement of a service provided in the school year beginning in\nSeptember, two thousand nine and ending in June two thousand ten.\n 5. For the purpose of affording the greatest possible protection to\nschool children, drive-off places on public highways may be designated\nby the appropriate board of education or district superintendent to\npermit school busses to be driven off the highway to receive or\ndischarge school children, and the state or municipality having\njurisdiction of such highway, is authorized to provide construction and\nmaintenance of such designated drive-offs.\n 6. In the event that the expenses entailed by the phase-out of\nomnibuses required by paragraph (k) of subdivision twenty of section\nthree hundred seventy-five of the vehicle and traffic law are not\notherwise provided for, such expenses shall be an ordinary contingent\nexpense of a school district.\n 7. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, rule or regulation,\nwhere a child is permitted by a school district or board of education to\nattend a public school other than the school to which they would\nnormally be assigned, a parent of such child may agree to waive\nprovision of transportation which would otherwise be required under this\nsection and no such transportation shall be required. Any agreement to\nwaive transportation must be renewed annually in writing.\n * 8. a. The trustees or board of education of a school district may,\nat its discretion, provide student transportation based upon patterns of\nactual ridership. The actual ridership shall be determined by a school\ndistrict based upon documented history and experience that yields a\nconsistent pattern of eligible pupils not using district transportation;\nor modeling of future ridership; or the sharing of transportation\nregionally; or other criteria approved by the commissioner; provided\nhowever that any methodology shall require an additional ten percent in\nseating capacity above the number of seats derived using such\nmethodology which shall be available in case of unanticipated riders.\n Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to reduce or relieve\nschool districts from the responsibility of providing transportation to\nstudents otherwise eligible for such transportation. Nothing in this\nsubdivision shall be construed to authorize a school district to have\nstanding passengers in violation of section thirty-six hundred\nthirty-five-c of this article, and unanticipated ridership shall not be\ndeemed an unforeseen occurrence for purposes of subdivision two of such\nsection after the first day in which such unanticipated ridership\noccurs.\n Any school district that, at its discretion, has elected to provide\nstudent transportation based upon patterns of actual ridership shall\nplace such plans on the school district's website, if one exists, on or\nbefore August fifteenth of the school year in which the transportation\nplan will be implemented and shall be required to have a back up plan as\npart of their emergency management practices for pupil transportation in\nthe event that a bus is filled beyond capacity.\n b. The commissioner shall evaluate the effectiveness of this\nsubdivision including the methodologies used by school districts to\ndetermine the patterns of actual ridership and whether such\nmethodologies ensure that all students otherwise eligible receive\ntransportation and that student safety is assured.\n * NB Repealed June 30, 2029\n